The NCAA has released its Division I qualifying standards for the 2018-2019 college season, including drastically-lowered B cuts and an A cut in the 50 free that has officially reached the 19-second barrier.
Here’s a brief refresher on how NCAA qualifying works (read the full explanation here):
- Individual Events: In individual races, all swimmers with “A” standards automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Thereafter, swimmers are chosen event-by-event, lined up to an equal number across all events, until the maximum number of individual swimmers have been selected (235 for men, 281 for women).
- Relay Events: All relays with the Qualifying Standard can swim at the NCAA Championships, provided they have 1 individual (swimmer or diver) invited to the meet as well. Once a team has a relay invited, they can swim any relay in which they have a provisional standard as well. Relays are qualified “to the team,” not to the individual swimmers, so teams can take whichever swimmers they want to participate in relays.
In even more simplified terms, “A” cuts are automatic NCAA invites, and the rest of the field is filled in with “B” cuts – typically down to about 28-29 total men or 36-37 total women per event, based on this past year’s invite lists.
The cut times – A cuts in particular – have become extraordinarily fast as the NCAA continues to surge forward each year. This time around, the men’s 50 free cut has dropped five one-hundredths to sit at an even 19.00. That comes just 13 years after Fred Bousquet became the first man ever to break 19 seconds in the 50, and only a few months after Caeleb Dressel became the first man ever under 18 seconds.
A handful of other events have dropped below major barriers. The men’s 100 free A cut is now sub-42. The men’s mile A cut dropped below 14:40. The women’s 100 back A cut is now sub-51, and the women’s 200 breast A cut is below 2:07 while the 200 IM A cut dipped below 1:55. We’ll have a more full analysis of the changes in cut times later on today.
You can check out the full cut times below, or see the NCAA’s document here.
| 2018-2019 Men’s “A” | 2018-2019 Men’s “B” | Event | 2018-2019 Women’s “A” | 2018-2019 Women’s “B” |
| 19.00 | 19.96 | 50 free | 21.74 | 22.76 |
| 41.88 | 43.80 | 100 free | 47.35 | 49.51 |
| 1:32.13 | 1:36.32 | 200 free | 1:43.17 | 1:47.12 |
| 4:12.22 | 4:23.34 | 500 free | 4:36.30 | 4:47.20 |
| 14:39.56 | 15:26.19 | 1650 free | 15:53.50 | 16:30.59 |
| 45.24 | 47.43 | 100 fly | 51.03 | 53.76 |
| 1:41.02 | 1:46.69 | 200 fly | 1:53.48 | 1:59.23 |
| 45.12 | 47.77 | 100 back | 50.99 | 53.94 |
| 1:39.38 | 1:45.04 | 200 back | 1:50.50 | 1:57.11 |
| 51.73 | 54.27 | 100 breast | 58.79 | 1:01.84 |
| 1:52.94 | 1:58.43 | 200 breast | 2:06.94 | 2:13.97 |
| 1:41.34 | 1:46.77 | 200 IM | 1:54.31 | 1:59.94 |
| 3:39.37 | 3:51.46 | 400 IM | 4:04.16 | 4:17.30 |
| 2018 Men’s Auto | 2018 Men’s Provisional | Relays | 2018 Women’s Austo | 2018 Women’s Provisional |
| 1:17.41 | 1:18.11 | 200 free relay | 1:28.61 | 1:29.36 |
| 2:51.39 | 2:52.72 | 400 free relay | 3:14.97 | 3:16.82 |
| 6:18.46 | 6:22.60 | 800 free relay | 7:02.52 | 7:06.19 |
| 1:24.56 | 1:25.33 | 200 medley relay | 1:36.75 | 1:37.39 |
| 3:06.78 | 3:08.33 | 400 medly relay | 3:32.20 | 3:34.35 |
| Standard 6-Dive List | Diving |
Standard 6-Dive List
|
||
| 300 | 1-meter | 265 | ||
| 320 | 3-meter | 280 | ||
| 300 | platform | 225 |
bottom line is the “Invite” time. B cuts matter for swimming a 2nd or 3rd event
Why are there 46 more women invited than men? They swim the same number of events. Shouldn’t they have an equal number? Equal opportunity?
As it’s been explained to me…the number of men and women invited has basically been the same for a long, long time, except for the recent expansion to where relay-only swimmers could come without counting against the cap. Someone who knows about these things told me that it’s a topic nobody wants to bring up with the NCAA because the reality is that if anybody asks, the NCAA will probably reduce the number of athletes allowed to attend one meet, the other meet, or both meets.
I remember reading that the number of participants in at the D1 championships is roughly proportional to the number of D1 swimmers. Because more men’s teams have been cut, there are more D1 teams for women, more D1 women swimmers, and more D1 championship invites for women. Unfortunately I don’t remember the source. Can someone confirm or refute?
Yeah i think I’ll just build a time machine and go compete in the 1960s 🙂
Yeah, no goggles, mandatory touch on the turns, baggy suits, horrible lane ropes and pools. Sure you would.
Any word on when D3 will be out?
To the true swim junkies out there: Fred sub 19 in 2005, Caleb sub 18 in 2018, when and who was the first dude to go sub 21 and when and who was the first dude to go sub 20??
I think that Zac Zorn (UCLA) was the first under 21 and Joe Bottom the first under 20. There’s a great chance that I’m wrong too!
To my memory it was indeed Joe Bottom being the first sub 20. No idea on the first sub 21.
Anders Holm went 20 point back in the day.
Anders went 20 point and nobody even flinched. Phelps changed the game.
This article states that Steve Clark from Yale was the first person to break 21 seconds in the 50 in the mid 1960s. https://swimswam.com/shouts-out-from-the-stands-best-male-freestyle-sprinter-ever/
Around this time or perhaps before one had to touch the wall with ones hand during the flip turn on freestyle…not sure if before or after Clark went the first 20?
Come on SwimSwam would make for a fascinating article to see the “Threshold” drops in the 50 freestyles for both men and women? Men sub: 22 to 21 to 20 to 19 to 18 and women sub: 25, 24, 23, 22, 21??? soon we hope!
Dropping B-cuts won’t make much difference for the scorers… but maybe a few. What was Dressel’s entry time in the 100 fly this year?
46.89
It’s an event now where Robin Leamy, Tom Jager, Matt Biondi & Cullen Jones would not have an A cut in the 50. Mind boggling.
But had they benefitted from today’s more advanced year round training regimen plus strength and conditioning science, they’d probably be right there. Or put another way, transport Dressel back in time to 1980 doing old school workouts and very little dry land, and he would not likely be as fast.
Great point. Based on the underwaters advancement alone it is easy to project Tom Jager might have put the 50 free, 100 free fly & back all out of reach for a generation.
Jager’s 3rd best stroke was back & yet he won national titles in the 100 yard back. That was because he was all rear wheel drive in that stoke. Jager was a phenomenal dolphin & flutter kick guy…arguably better than Jesse Vasallo who was the original “you must be kidding me” dolphin kicker. Jager would have been unreal doing 25 yard course races 60% underwater.
From the NCAA Championships page, April 2018 meeting minutes —
A standards are a three-year average of the eighth time on the season performance list – this year, the women’s 500 and 1650 and the men’s 200 breast were kept at what they were last year, because it was already faster than what it would’ve been using the average.
B standards are a three-year average of the 125th time on the season performance list – this year, the women’s 1650 free did not change from 2018, since it was faster than what would’ve been using the average.
Also, they’ve recommended (at least, not sure when/how it can officially be adopted) that the final selection spot tiebreaker now be the closest… Read more »